Summer / Fall 2012
I
nterchange
CSX Transportation and America's Short Lines: Connecting For Growth
awards and recognition
sHort line spotligHt
opportunities for growtH
news and notes
Staying Focused on Profitable,
Sustainable Growth
Total Service Integration � Carload
JD Power surveys tell us service to our
customers on carload business must improve
and be more reliable to win more of their
business. Similarly, the ASLRRA's surveys
on CSX consistently tell us that pick-up
and delivery service need to improve. "TSI
Carload," as it is known, involves the intense
focus our customers and short line partners
have requested of CSX.
CSX and its short line partners must work
together to ensure this TSI Carload initiative
resonates with our mutual customers. If our
current interchange service works well, we
need short lines' help to inform customers and
inquire about more business; or if a specific
interchange location needs fixing, we must
isolate the problem and determine what we
will do collaboratively to improve service.
Customer / Short Line Site
Assessment
We informed everyone last year of our goal
to visit more than 5,000 customer locations.
Our mission was to assess current and future
service needs and seek opportunities for more
At CSX's 2011 and 2012 Short Line Workshops, we informed
our short line partners of three important initiatives. We believe
short line engagement and alignment with CSX on these
initiatives will drive profitable and sustainable volume growth.
business. Through face-to-face visits,
CSX accomplished its goal in 2011.
More than 50,000 carloads and $53 million in
new revenue opportunities were generated
from the effort.
In 2012, CSX is giving the same focus to its
240 short line partners and approximately 385
interchange locations. This work indicates not
only our resolve to improve service to/from
different interchanges, but to use consistent,
reliable service as a foundation for requesting
more of our mutual customers' business.
If there are short lines unfamiliar with this
process or that need assistance from CSX
in completing questionnaires that were
electronically mailed earlier this year, please
contact your short line representative.
Grow to 65
A critical ingredient to CSX's achieving a 65%
operating ratio is our ability to work together
to secure customer and/or market growth.
Profitable volume growth, with short lines
helping to lead the way, is essential to our
mutual success.
Not surprisingly, short lines have always been
a growth engine at CSX. Our interline volumes
have typically grown at rates faster than what
CSX experiences overall. We need short lines
to nurture existing and new customers, and
continue to sell the overall rail value proposition.
Rail is the safest, most fuel efficient and most
environmentally friendly way of moving freight,
and we should remain vigilant in reminding our
customers of these key attributes.
Year-to-date, our short line interline volumes
have been challenged by a weak and uneven
economic recovery, combined with the
headwinds of a depressed utility coal market.
Overall, five markets are growing with short
lines (Automotive, Paper/Forest Products,
Chemicals, Phosphates/Fertilizers, and Metals),
while four are declining (Coal, Agricultural
Products, Emerging Markets, and Food &
Consumer).
I hope you find our Interchange newsletter
informative, relevant, and useful to your
business development efforts. Please contact
your CSX short line representative or me if
we can be of assistance to you, and we hope
everyone has a successful year.
--Len Kellermann